Share this story

Is it too much of an exaggeration to say that if it wasn't for integrated circuits, none of us would be doing this right now? Jack Kilby, who is credited with the invention of the integrated circuit, died this week at the age of 81 after a brief battle with cancer.

The invention of the integrated circuit came about as the result of his being left nearly alone at Texas Instruments not long after he was hired in 1958. The plant he was working at shut down for a summer holiday, but as a new hire, he didn't have any vacation time coming. As a result, he was able to spend some time pondering how to further shrink the size of the transistor. From Kilby's recollection of the invention of the integrated circuit:

"Further thought led me to the conclusion that semiconductors were all that were really required ? that resistors and capacitors, in particular, could be made from the same material as the active devices.

"I also realized that, since all of the components could be made of a single material, they could also be made in situ, interconnected to form a complete circuit. I then quickly sketched a proposed design for a flip-flop using these components. Resistors were provided by bulk effect in the silicon, and capacitors by p-n junctions."

Texas Instruments made the invention public in March 1959, and received the first patent for the device. Robert Noyce, who eventually cofounded Intel with Gordon Moore, was also working on the integrated circuit around the same time at Fairfield Semiconductor and is credited with making mass production of the integrated circuit feasible.

In addition to also receiving over 60 patents, Kilby was a 2000 Nobel Prize in Physics recipient for his invention of the integrated circuit.